Bryan Murdock wrote: > I'm not a compiler guy, but I know dynamic languages like Python don't > need to differentiate between those two cases. Is it an aspect of > compiled languages that require the distinction?
That's because what you are calling a python "variable" isn't a variable in the same sense as a statically-typed, compiled language. In Python a "variable" is really just a name that's bound to an object. It is interesting to note that this does not create a variable: a = 5 Rather it binds the name "a" to an immutable object, 5. In other words you cannot change the object that a points to. Doing math is an exercise in rebinding the name: a = a + 4 Even better, if you did this, you have 2 names bound to the _same_ object: a = 5 b = a assert(a is b) -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info (unsubscribe here): http://uug.byu.edu/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
